Æthelberht II of East Anglia
Ethelbert of East Anglia | |
|---|---|
Brass plate from Hereford Cathedral | |
| Born | c. 774 |
| Died | 20 May 794 (aged 19–20) Hereford |
| Cause of death | Decapitation |
| Venerated in | Catholic Church, Church of England |
| Major shrine | Hereford Cathedral, England |
| Feast | 20 May |
| Attributes | A young king, sometimes bearded, holding a church and a palm branch |
| Patronage | Hereford, England |
Æthelberht (Old English: Æðelbrihte, Æþelberhte), also called Saint Ethelbert the King (c. 774 – 20 May 794) was an 8th-century saint and a king of East Anglia, the Anglo-Saxon kingdom which today includes the English counties of Norfolk and Suffolk. Little is known of his reign, which may have begun in 779, according to later sources, and very few of the coins he issued have been discovered. It is known from the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle that he was killed on the orders of Offa of Mercia in 794.
Æthelberht was locally canonised and became the focus of cults in East Anglia and at Hereford, where the shrine of the saintly king once existed. In the absence of known historical facts, medieval chroniclers provided their own details for his ancestry, life as king, and death at the hands of Offa. His feast day is 20 May. There are churches in Norfolk, Suffolk, and western England dedicated to him and he is a joint patron of Hereford Cathedral.